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Completed Let's ironman Fallout 2!

Pope Amole II

Nerd Commando Game Studios
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Ammo modifiers are really simple - for aimed shots, the only thing you need to look at is damage mod (that simply multiplies damage) and ac mod (basically, that is added to your to hit chance). Average damage of YK42b is 66, of Gauss rifle it's 37x 3/2=55. Yeah, 11 less, but gauss has an accurate special ability and an AC mod of 30 which totals to +50% of extra to-hit chance. And that's a lot, especially for the skill-point deprived character or if you wanna snipe from far, far away. TBH, I personally like energo sniper more - more dmg and more options, and I agree that once you get 2 action boys, gauss pistol looks much better for your small guns sniper.

However, for small guns fast shot option I'd rather take H&K G11E - it should deal more damage with 3 bursts that 6 gauss pistol shots.
 

Thor Kaufman

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Pope Amole II You might know this, regarding NPCs/companions

From what I gathered Sulik and Vic got an extra levelup compared to vanilla turning Vic into a real beast with 12AP in his final form but for some reason Cassidy and Marcus don't seem to get that. Did not all NPCs get an upgrade?
 

Pope Amole II

Nerd Commando Game Studios
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Dunno, man. In most of my runs, my NPCs got shredded way before they got that far. And, of course, I haven't really tested all of them.
 

Pope Amole II

Nerd Commando Game Studios
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Is the Gauss Rifle really superior to the YK42B Pulse Rifle?

So the new development has occured today - I've actually learned something new about this game. Dammit, you think you knew everything and, once again, you're wrong. Tells less about my learning capabilites, though, and more about the fucking obscurity of these games - the developers sure tried hard to hide dem mechanics as deep as possible.

So, in F1 and F2, most of the weapons have hidden perks. There's the weapon range perk (allows to ignore first 10 hexes for the sake of range penalty - something like a 40% to accuracy), the weapon accuracy perk (flat 20% to hit bonus), the knockback perk (one of the most known ones - the rate is 1 hex per 5 points of damage dealt, btw, that's why the foes slide so far from the critical hits) and the weapon penetrate perk - the most powerful one.

Now, I've known about this stuff before, I was just mistaken about what it did. I misread and thought that penetrate allowed you to ignore 80% of target's DR - pointless as critical hits ignore DR anyways. But in fact, it ignores 80% of target's DT and it's fucking precious as nothing else can touch the DT. It's helluva crazy, because what that does, that basically downgrades any kind of power armor into a metal one. Yeah, you take those 15-20 DTs of the APA, you multiply them on the 0.2 and see what happens. 12 extra damage per hit, basically (yeah, there are still high DRs, but that's what criticals are for). Penetrate weapons are crazy good, but what are they? Let's look at the list.

  • .223 pistol - neat, but too high AP cost to be really useful. Makes a nice sidearm for Sulik, though.
  • Needler pistol - same as above, with the exception of Sulik part. Actualy, with mk 2 ammo it does even more damage than good ol' .223 (theoretically, it should do 49/66/99/132 crits on the average to the APA guys), but it still can't quite compete with the gauss - gauss pistol crit dmg should be in range of 37.5/50/75/100, but it costs 1 AP less to shoot. Once again, sidekick tier.
  • Ripper - kinda the same situation. Sledgehammer just wins by costing 1 AP less. But then, it turned out that melee weapons actually absolutely lose to the unarmed in this game (previously, I thought it was balanced - it's not), why?
  • Power fist - that's why. Well, not that...
  • Mega Power Fist - but this. So not only power fist has the higher base damage than the supersledge (and the access to lots of free skill training and HTH evasion goodness), it also deals those 12-13 extra damage to the apa guys (and that's without crit modifier accounted - with slayer, it's 18/24/36/48 extra dmg per attack and you can swing up to 6 times per round). And it doesn't push the fucking target away, so what can I say? Fuck the melee.
  • YK 32 Pulse Pistol - still doesn't make it better than the alien blaster, so once again, maybe for the few party members who are able to use them. On the other hand...
  • YK42B Pulse Rifle - yes, baby, yes! So not only this girl has eleven more basic damage than the gauss, she also has twelve more from this perk. So, criticals accounted for, that's 33.5/46/69/92 extra damage per shot (depending on the type of critical, btw - non-aimed crits have the x1.5-x2-x3 modifier, eye-aimed have the x2-x3-x4 modifier; that's with the better crits perk). Thus, a more precise answer to the Thor's question - in YK42B, "B" is for the "beats fucking gauss".
  • Magneto-laser pistol - cute, but not really useful. I guess if you rush the new reno for that salvatore laser pistol and then upgrade it at Algernon's basement, you can sqeeze something out of this, but that's a really specific playthrough.
  • "Little Jesus" - would've made a great early-to-mid game melee weapon, if only lil' Jesus was actually killable at that stage of the game. Besides, if you're in Reno, you can get lousville slugger which is better than this anyway.
  • Wakizashi blade - at least you can get these early. Actually, it makes them a great early weapon for Sulik - he can't use the slugger and, with his high melee damage bonus, he can do quite a lot with this blade.
  • H&K CAWS - makes it officially better than the Pancor Jackhammer. Sure, pancor deals 3 dmg more per shot, but what's the point if they just get absorbed by the DT? Let's calculate if that makes it a worthy weapon, though - theoretically, it's burst does 127.5/170/255 (no x4 for the burst as it can't be eye-aimed, obviously) dmg against the enclave trooper. Well, if we compare it to the gauss pistol (which can shoot twice as often), the numbers are not that bad - they're better, actually. And what's the damage of the gauss rifle in the non-eye mode? 61.875/82.5/123.75. So H&K is still better (theoretically - don't have the time to test it). Yeah, you have to take into account that you need to reload it more often, but that can be negated to a certain extent by taking the quick pockets at lvl 3 (not like there's lots of goot stuff to take there) and dual-wielding it. Doesn't change the fact that XL70E3 is the best small gun around, though (yeah, bet you didn't know that), but at least H&K is really good for your henchmen (not to mention that it's much easier to find).
  • Holy Hand Grenade - yeah, as if this thing needed any additional help...
  • End Boss Knife - and that's the reason why it hurt so fucking much.
 

Pope Amole II

Nerd Commando Game Studios
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What does it depend on what kind of crit modifier one gets?
Also, why is the XL70E3 the best small gun?

The success of your roll on the d100 critical table (the higher the roll, the better the modifier is). + aim of your shot (harder to hit spots have more rewarding tables) + better critical perk ( adds 20 on the roll).

XL70E3 deals 12-19 dmg per hit (15.5 on the average) with the 2/1 damage modifying 5mm ammo. So the actual damage per shot is plain 31. If we're firing at the enclave trooper, sure, 15 DT gets subtracted from that number, but we're still left with the 16 damage per shot, 10 shots in the burst. 160 damage potential and that's without crit - obviously, we're using sniper so 240/320/480 dmg potential (ignoring that pesky damage resistance which would've otherwise negated most of the damage). That's for the 6 ap.

Let's compare it to the seemingly superior H&K G11E - 13-23 dmg per shot, 18 on the average. Ammo mod is 3/2, that's 27 damage per shot, -15 from APA DT, 12 damage remaining. 7 shots in the burst - obviously lower dmg. And burst is the same 6 AP.

H&K CAWS' damage potential & gauss damage potential you've already seen and it's also worse. Another option we haven't considered is the HK P90c.

12-16 damage per shot, 14 on the average. Good ol' 10mm ammo - 2/1 damage modifier, 28 damage in total. Subtract the 15 DT of the armor - still 13 damage remaining, with 12 shots in the burst. 156 damage in total - so almost as good as XL70E3 in terms of damage, but wait, HK's burst is only 5 ap! So yeah, sorry, was mistaken there - HK P90c is the best small gun and XL70E3 is the next contender. Still, where else in the web will you learn that HK P90c is the best small gun of fallout? It's always gauss this, gauss that, gauss, my ass.

But, to put it simply, pretty much everything based on the 5mm/10mm is half-broken with the sniper perk because damage mod 2/1 is just way, way too good under the game's rules.
 

Thor Kaufman

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Very intredasting.
Fallout 2 Restoration Project seems to have changed some things, 8bullets/burst for the XL70E3, damage mod 3/2 for 5mm
I gather ultimate weapon is still the Bozar? 30avg, 15 rounds (30-15APA armor)*15=225base or 56.5/AP

Also, what melee weapons do you recommend? Is the Super Sledge garbage or still the best weapon? Or is it the Little Jesus?
 

Pope Amole II

Nerd Commando Game Studios
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Thing is, at the end of restoration patch (IIRC) you're offered to install ammo mod which is a complete garbage - never try it for it breaks lots of stuff (without really fixing anything).

As for the melee - super sledge is still the best, jesus doesn't do that much damage even with the penetrate option. It's just that melee is pointless as unarmed works at the same distance and with the same perks, but provides much better damage (and is more convenient).
 

t

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Codex 2014 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
HK P90c always felt nice. The reward after hoarding 10 mm ammo for so long. Now we know why, and it's just a decade and a half later.
 

Pope Amole II

Nerd Commando Game Studios
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Yeah, if I had time, I'd totally go for a playthrough like:

S 3
P 8
E 4
C 2
I 10
A 10
L 10

(or A 9 & L 8 with S 4 and E 6 if we're playing RP and want to go hubbologist)

Traits: fast shot, gifted

Skills: small guns, speech, doctor

Perks:
lvl 3 - quick pockets (so you can eventually dual-wield HKs and reload two of them by spending just 2 AP; that's a 0.5 AP per shot economy - considering we aim for 4 shots per turn, its better than the action boy)
lvl 6 - bonus ranged damage (with burst 5mm/10mm weapons like these, it's almost 15% of extra dmg per burst)
lvl 9 - bonus ranged damage
lvl 12 - lifegiver
lvl 15 - lifegiver (if ironman)
lvl 18 - bonus ranged attacks
lvl 21 - better criticals
lvl 24 - sniper
lvl 27 - action boy
lvl 30 - action boy.

With two levels of bonus ranged damage, the dmg range here should be 304/408/612. That's 1-2-3 dead enclave troopers per 3 AP burst. Well, 2 or 3 is probably optimistic (because bullets won't spread ideally), but still, anything that drops an entire enclave patrol in one round is good in my book. Of course, avenger minigun deals even more dmg with such setup (780/1040/1560; fyi, the famous vindicator is just 478.125/637.5/956.25, bozar is 382.5/510/765), but that costs 1 ap more and let's not forget that bullets will not spread ideally. Most of your shots will go overkill/wasted, so the more even spread of AP 3 weapon is something to be appreciated.
 

epeli

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Aug 17, 2014
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I somehow ended up watching a Fallout 2 letsplay by some youtuber - as expected, he was a terrible player. Actually, so bad that youtube's infamously retarded comments were actually helpful to him... watching something like that can be sadistic fun for a while, but gets old really fast.
So I came in here to find something nice - and that I did! People like Pope Amole II make the 'dex an amazing place. This was a pleasure to read.:love:
It's nice to see someone who truly appreciates Fallout 2 and its game mechanics the same way I do! A shame I haven't actively played Fo2 in a few years, but it's still better to find something like this late than never.
 

Wulfstand

Prophet
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Jul 13, 2009
Messages
2,209
Excelent LP, I've just recently gone through both games (F1 and 2, that is) for the first time (I know, I know), and I'm completely amazed at the amount of content that I missed during my first playthrough. Say what you will about F2's mishaps in writing and the setting's overall tone, but it's replayability makes up for most of it's hiccups.

Also, not to digress on a lore discussion, but why can you not stand the NCR? Furthermore, placing the game in New Vegas' context, which of the main factions would you think would offer the most prosperous route towards peace and stability, given said context?
 

Pope Amole II

Nerd Commando Game Studios
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Because NCR is absolutely nonsensical. It's only reason to exist is a stupid joke - hey-hey, look, this ratty shithole is suddenly a prosperous and high-tech city (by the measures of wasteland) and Tandi is a president!!! Betcha you couldn't have expected that. It's just on the same level of retardation as the talking deathclaws and the concept of vaults being a social experiment - hey, let's subvert stuff for the sake of subverting stuff. Subverting is fun!

First, they were just a shitty village with zero resources. Their farmers hadn't even knew about crop rotation, that's how bad they were. Second, they were neighbours to Hub and no way in hell Hub allows anyone to subvert them. They just have too much resources and NCR has nothing. Shady Sands somehow taking control over hub is a total asspull - even in the case of some mega-drought and, say, armed rebellion versus the Hub (who decided to profit on that, obviously), even then Shady Sands woudn't be at the center of resistance as they have just nothing to offer such a resistance.

And all the democracy stuff that's tied to them is puke-inducing. Good guys of the wasteland, NCR rangers, etc. Ugh. And mind you, in F2, that's played pretty straight - they're somewhat shrewd in their deals with the squatters, Redding and Vault City, but they're still much better than anyone else. That's retarded.

Haven't played New Vegas so I won't comment on that, but them winning over the Brotherhood is another cringe thing. Essentially, makes them Mary Sue of a faction.
 

Wulfstand

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Messages
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Well, I agree for the most part, but part of what I enjoyed from the initial premise of F1 was how slightly ridiculous the setting was: post-apocalypse meets americana pop-culture, with all of its occasional goofiness, while still maintaining a serious tone (in the first game, in any case). The whole retro-futuristic idea of America being stuck in the Mad Men era up until 2077 when a Cold War type of conflict against the Chinese causes a nuclear apocalypse sounds like something you'd hear of here.

To be frank, I never thought much of the Hub as an actual political power, somehow I only perceived it as a conglomerate of caravan traders, I was actually curious in getting to know more about them as an actual council, but I guess I didn't follow such details too thoroughly after finishing the Deathclaw+Supermutant quest for one of the Caravan leaders. The main thing that stuck with me about the whole 'birth of the NCR' was how Tandi, instead of choosing to go on travels with the Vault Dweller, chose to stay home, where she became the driving force for the before mentioned birth of a nation. A pretty cool piece of C&C in which you didn't necessarily have the most important role to play (assuming that if you were to refuse to rescue her from the raiders, some other people would have).

In regards to your dislike to how they're the clean, good guys in F2, I guess that's one of the main strengths of F:NV, how the story of the game makes it clear that the NCR aren't necessarily all they're hyped up to be, how their Democracy isn't really the good answer to a binary question in regards to the way things should be run in a post-apoc world. That, and some more Americana tongue-in-cheek spread in good measures and not over the top as was the case in F2, while at the same time returning to a more serious tone. Man, if only the game ran on a different engine, and was isometric, like the first two...
 
Last edited:

Black

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Does the RP fix the not-so-amazing Vindicator minigun?
 

Pope Amole II

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Ugh, I really don't recommend using the ammo mod that comes with the RP - it's incredibly crappy and stupid. And, well, the main problem of Vindicator is not even the damage - it's the absolute scarcity of ammo (which is not fixed by the RP). You can save it for the entirety of the game and it'll be barely enough for one level of enclave.
 

Black

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I'm not using the ammo mod, used it once, never again. I guess for the Vindicator ammo you can farm hubologists with their HKs to get some.
 

GarfunkeL

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Great LP! Dunno how I missed it originally. All your explanations of mechanics and showing of some hidden stuff really inspires me to do a way different run than usual - I think I'll go for unarmed for the very first time in F2. Always thought it was suicidal but apparently not.
 

Derper

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Aaaargh
You could go unarmed plus big weapons - gives you a little extra punch (pun intended) in the late game.

By the way, was there some bonus or quest for those with no gun tags or possibly no fighting+gun tags whatsoever?
 

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